Obama bundler's lobbying registration was a 'clerical error'

The Obama campaign struggled to explain the presence of a registered lobbyist on their bundler list Wednesday, blaming a clerical error for his status as a representative for an airline.

The conservative website Washington Free Beacon reported earlier today that former Florida Rep. Ron Klein was a registered lobbyist with Holland & Knight for Spirit Airlines, all while collecting up to $500,000 dollars for the campaign — despite a self-imposed pledge by the Obama campaign not to take lobbyist donations.

The Obama campaign told reporters that Klein was removed from the campaign as soon as he became a lobbyist, but Klein told NBC that his registration as Spirit's lobbyist was a clerical error — and that he was working to remove the status.

"Klein hasn't raised since the end of December. But Holland and Knight made a mistake and registered him as a federal lobbyist simply because he brought a client in (Spirit), though he has not been lobbying for them or any other clients. So it was a clerical error. He's deregistering. And he will continue to raise," a campaign official said.

"I'm not a lobbyist," Klein told NBC, saying that he brought Spirit to the firm as part of his "business development" role.

Still, the incident raises more questions about the Obama campaign's vetting of donors — and shows the thin line between lobbying and other forms of influence peddling. The problem is not unique to Democrats — former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has struggled to explain his consulting role at a mortgage company. And it's the second campaign finance gaffe for the Obama administration this week, with the campaign scrambling to return donations from the family of a Mexican fugitive after a New York Times report.